The Reformation: Martin Luther and the End of Christian Religious Unity

The Reformation: Martin Luther and the End of Christian Religious Unity

By the early 1500s, many people in Western Europe were growing increasingly discontented and displeased with the Christian Church. Many found the Pope too involved with secular (worldly) matters, rather than with his flocks spiritual well-being. Lower church officials were poorly educated and broke vows by living richly and keeping mistresses. Some officials practiced simony, or passing down their title as priest or bishop to their illegitimate sons. In keeping with the many social changes of the Renaissance, people began to boldly challenge the authority of the Christian Church.

There were some early calls for church reform in that last part of the fifteenth century. This includes Jan Hus (1372-1415), a Bohemian scholar, was burned at the stake for his criticisms of The Church. Englishman John Wycliffe (1328-1384), a professor at Oxford, attacked the Eucharist, the Christian ceremony of taking bread and wine, calling it a source of superstition. Wycliffe claimed the bible to be final authority, superseding even that of the Pope. Both Hus and Wycliffe attracted a small following, but any major opposition to the Christian Church was still a century away. Anyone who questioned and opposed to the Christian Church was punished or tortured.

A German monk by the name of Martin Luther was particularly bothered by the selling of indulgences. An indulgence, a religious pardon that released a sinner from performing specific penalties, could be bought from a church official for various fees. Martin Luther was especially troubled because some church officials gave people the impression that they could buy their way into heaven. Doctrines of indulgences taught that Christ and the saints had stored up a treasury of merit. Indulgences could reduce the amount of time spent in purgatory; did not bring forgiveness of sin. Indulgences were sold to raise money for the church's increasing expenses....

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MartinLuther (November 10, 1483 - February 18, 1546) was a Christian theologian and Augustinian monk whose teachings inspired the Protestant Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines of Protestant and other Christian traditions. MartinLuther was one of the most influential people of the Protestant Reformation. Luther was also responsible for the break-up of the Catholic Church. MartinLuther was a representative during the 16th century of a desire widespread of the renewal and reform of the Catholic Church. He launched the Protestant reform a continuation of the medieval religious search. MartinLuther was born to Hans and Margaretha Luder on Novermber 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany and was baptized the next day on the feast of St. Martin of Tours, after whom he was named. Hans Luther knew that mining was a tough business and wanted his promising son to have better and become a lawyer. At age seven, MartinLuther entered school in Mansfeld. At 14, he went to north to Magdeburg, where he continued his studies. In 1498, he returned to Eisleben and enrolled in a school, studying grammar, rhetoric and logic. He later compared this experience to purgatory and hell.
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The Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg Germany in October of 1517 with MartinLuther who was a German Augustinian Monk. MartinLuther criticized the Roman Catholic Church feeling the church had lost its way and openly accused them of corruption and false teachings by posting a document he authored called the “95 Theses”. MartinLuther was the first to stand up to the Catholic Church and singlehandedly set Protestantism in motion and paved the way for others such as Philipp Melanchthon and John Calvin who also left the Catholic Church in 1530 and also later openly criticized the Catholic church for their corruption as well.
The Protestant Reformation was a movement aimed at calling attention to the Roman Catholic Church practices and doctrine at the time. Specifically there were two main ideas: The first idea being that the Bible instead of the Church and its leadership should be the only source of spiritually authority. In other words, that the word written in the bible should be followed rather than the words of the Pope or other church leadership. Second, and more importantly - that the practice of selling of indulgences...

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Section 1: Life of MartinLuther
1. Fill out the graphic organizer using http://www.luther.de/en/moench.html
Life of MartinLuther
After visiting his parents, he was caught in a terrible thunderstorm. During the storm lightning struck near him, and he was thrown to the ground. At this moment he called to Saint Anne, and declared: “I will become a monk.”
Why did he decide to become a Monk?
When did he decide to become a Monk?
During a terrible storm.
When did he become a professor at Wittenberg (Germany) university?
1507 he started professed at 1512
What did he do as a professor?
He came into contact with the ideas of the humanists and embraced their slogan.
2. Answer these questions using the map at http://www.korcula.net/history/mmarelic/luther.htm
a. Where did followers of Martin Luther’s ideas (Lutherans) live?Germany Denmark Sweden Norway Prussia
a. Where did followers of another reformer, John Calvin (Calvinists) live? The city of Genoa Switzerland. Scotland, England, France, Italy, Bohemia, Poland, and the Dutch Netherlands.
b. Was the majority of Europe Catholic or Protestant during the reformation?protestants
Section 2: Luther’s Beliefs
1. Find out what MartinLuther believed about Faith. Read the passage in the following link and fill out the chart....

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MartinLuther objected to the selling of indulgences by the Church. An indulgence was a written note with the seal of the pope, which when sold to any person, absolved that person of their sins. This angered MartinLuther because it was morally corrupt and went against the notion of confession. Originally a person would go and confess their sins and then get absolved by the priest. Now, people would buy a formal document stating that they have repented and be automatically absolved. MartinLuther saw indulgences as a way for the clergy to become wealthy and spend the common man’s money for their own personal interests.
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...In 1517 MartinLuther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of a church. This was the start of the Protestant Reformation, and the schism in the church. The major causes of the Reformation, which were political, social, and ideological circumstances had led to the dividing of the church. From this revolutionary beginning came new ideologies that evolved from the cons of the catholic views on.
By the tenth century, the Roman Catholic Church had dominated religious life in Northern and Western Europe. Still, the church did not have the approval by many. Over the centuries, many people criticized its practices. They felt that the Church leaders were too interested in worldly pursuits, such as gaining wealth and political power. Even with the reforms made in the Middle Ages the church was still criticized. This criticism would lead to rebellion.
Being that there are many aspects that played a role in this Reformation, there are three major influences. The first one would be the social impact of the printing press. The Renaissance emphasis on the secular and the individual challenged the Church authority. The printing press helped spread these secular ideas like wild fire.
The next cause would be the political impact of the towns local rulers opposing increasing political centralization. In Germany, it was difficult for the pope or the emperor to impose central authority. As a result, northern...

...﻿ The Protestant Reformation was time a time of tremendous change for Europe and the Christian Church. The reformation is said to have begun in 1517 when MartinLuther challenged the authority of the pope (Perry 324). He did this by creating the ninety-five these, which was a series of arguments against papal authority and their corruptness. Various people had tried to reform the church previously, but the real protestant movement did not begin until the time of MartinLuther. Following the ideas of Luther, the Christian church split for good which had a great effect on all of Europe that is still seen to this day.
Many branches of the Protestant movement based their idea of humanists. The first known humanist was Francesco Petrarch, who lived from 1304-1374. He believed in the education of people through the literature and classics of the Ancient Greeks and the Romans. He admired Greek philosophy and Roman political ideas (McKay 378). Christian humanists later reformed his ideas in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The most famous of these was Erasmus. Erasmus believed that education should be centered on the Bible and the Greek and Roman classics (McKay 385). He wanted every person to be able to read the bible, just as the pope and clergy could. Erasmus helped to stimulate the protestant movement on the same level that...

...MartinLuther is credited for starting the Protestant Reformation by declaring the corruption he saw in the Roman Catholic Church. By standing firm in his faith and openly going against the church, he's able to get the people thinking for themselves and discovering the truth of their leaders and religion.
MartinLuther was born November 10, 1483 in Eislenben, Germany, to copper miner Hans and peasant Margaretha Luder. Living in poverty, his father is set on Luther becoming a lawyer for higher income and family honor. In 1501, he enrolled at Master of Arts in Erford, and received his Bachelor's degree in 1502 and Master's in 1505. He then enrolled to the law school. In 1505, he's caught in a thunderstorm and asks God for deliverance. Since he lived through the fright, he then devotes himself to God, dropping out of law school and joining the monastery, although against his father's orders.
While searching for personal salvation, Luther took his spiritual growth very seriously and often times punished himself. He spent most hours praying and confessing. Through this, he began to notice his frequent and awful sins. He was told to follow after academics which he then taught theology at the University of Wittenberg. On October 18, 1512, he is given a Doctorate in Theology. In 1513, he studied Psalm 22 and gained enlightenment. He realized, as Paul said, "The just will...

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A German Augustinian friar, MartinLuther launched the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Luther grew up the son of a miner, but he did not maintain that lifestyle for himself. He lived in a period that had a widespread desire for reformation of the Christian church and a yearning for salvation.
MartinLuther was born at Eisleben in Saxony. Since his father was a miner, it was a great distress on him to send Martin to school and then to the University of Erfurt. There is where he earned his master's degree at the young age of twenty-one. (Erikson, 39) Although his father wished him to study law, Martin, after being terribly frightened in a thunderstorm, vowed to become a friar. In 1505, Luther entered the monastery of the Augustinian friars at Erfurt and was ordained a priest in 1507. (Erikson, 167) He eventually earned a doctorate of theology. From 1512 until his death in 1546, he served as a professor of the Scriptures at the new University of Wittenberg. Because of his Professorship, he had the authority to teach, which he frequently cited as justification for his reforming work. (Erikson, 154)
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